With the upcoming Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028 (LA28), LA is beginning construction of a new Olympic Village. The Village will consist of temporary housing for all 15,000 Olympic athletes and 8,000 Paralympic athletes for the summer. Current planning models depict the Villages as having around 3,000 housing units that vary from apartments and dorms to townhomes and single-family homes.
This is LA’s third time hosting the Olympics, with the theme of construction being sustainability. The first time was in 1932 and the second was in 1984. This idea is being realized by implementing more environmentally conscious energy and water saving systems and utilizing existing infrastructure for the Games.
The environmental innovations that are being planned include placing solar panels on building roofs for energy, creating rooftop gardens to reduce heat during the summer, utilizing rainwater harvesting systems and building the sites with recycled and locally-sourced materials.
By implementing more sustainable construction methods, LA hopes to also earn a Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. This is an award from the United States Green Building Council that awards buildings based on seven criteria: “sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation in design process and regional priority.”
Each of the criteria are scored, and buildings must receive at least 40 points to be LEED certified. While the range for LEED certification is 40-49 points, the buildings can also have higher levels of certification. Silver Level buildings score 50-59, Gold Level scores 60-79 and Platinum Level scores at least 80 points. The highest total number of points that a building can achieve is 110.
Construction will follow a three-phase plan. Phase one was from 2020-2022 and was designated for site preparation and development. The current phase, phase two, is from 2022-2025 and has been the housing portion. The final phase, 2025-2028, is the finalization of any construction that has not yet been completed.
The current structures that are being used for the Games are as follows:
LA Memorial Coliseum and Inglewood Stadium: Opening and Closing Ceremonies
Exposition Park pool: Diving
Main Press Center: Fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo and wrestling
Pacific Palisades Riviera Country Club: Golf
Dignity Health Sports Park: Track cycling, hockey, rugby sevens and tennis
Velodrome: Official Olympic Training Site
Marine Stadium: Rowing and canoe sprint
Belmont Shore: Sailing
Alamitos Beach: Marathon swimming and triathlon races
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center: Water polo, artistic swimming, handball and Para swimming
Downtown LA Arena: Gymnastics
Intuit Dome: Basketball
SoFi Stadium: Swimming
Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area: Shooting, shooting Para sport, Equestrian and Para Equestrian
Sepulveda Basin Area: Archery
San Fernando Valley: BMX freestyle, BMX racing and skateboarding park and street
Oklahoma City: Canoeing slalom and softball
Utilizing the SoFi Stadium for Swimming events makes LA’s swimming venue the largest swimming venue in Olympic History, with an expectation of 38,000 seats.
The LA28 Chairperson, Casey Wasserman, highlights that LA is saving “USD 15 million … and new revenue will help to maintain a balanced budget.”
LA28 will be the first Olympic and Paralympic Games that will not be building a new permanent building for the sporting events.
Following the Games in 2028, LA plans to repurpose the housing for various offices and commercial spaces, however, this may change based on future developments and needs of the city.
